The records in the Glenbow Archives document the social, political and economic history of western Canada, with emphasis on Calgary and southern Alberta. Areas include First Nations, the Mounted Police and military; ranching and agriculture; commerce and industry; land settlement and immigration; communications; cultural pluralism; the petroleum industry and natural resources; politics, labour, women, family and personal life; recreation and leisure; environment; photographers; ranching; societies; sports and transportation. A specialty of the Archives is Métis and First Nations genealogy.

The collection includes textual records, over a million photographs, film footage and sound recordings ranging in date from the 1870s to the 1990s.

Finding aids: Glenbow Archives: a guide to the holdings (Calgary, 1992). Detailed finding aids for some of the most-requested records are also available online (Archives Network of Alberta Database)

Resources

Canadian census 1881, 1891, 1901 for Alberta, Saskatchewan and part of Manitoba

a small collection of genealogical handbooks and guides

biographical dictionaries for Canada, Great Britain, U.S.

directories for the Northwest Territories and rural Alberta (1881-1928), as well as historical Western Canada city directories

Calgary (1910- )

Edmonton (1910- )

Lethbridge (1948- )

Medicine Hat (1913- )

Moose Jaw (1939- )

Regina (1910- )

plus other from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

published local histories for primarily, Alberta, but also some from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia

Glenbow Archives, as one of its priorities, collect material of native and Métis interest. Foremost in their collection is the:

 Charles Denney Genealogical Collection

Charles Denney was born in 1901 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His teaching career, primarily in Alberta, began 1920 and spanned almost two decades. In 1927 he married Mildred Sherlock, also a teacher, and they had one daughter. From 1940 to 1951 he worked for the Alberta government, then the federal income tax office. From 1951 he had his own accounting business in Edmonton.

Charles was very active in the Amisk Waskahegan Chapter of the Historical Society of Alberta, and was a prime mover in organizing the Alberta Genealogical Society in 1973. In 1967 he began work on his wife’s genealogy which went back to the Red River Settlement of 1867. As his interest grew so did his collected research. By 1985, when he sold this collection to the Glenbow Archives, he had compiled family history files on over 1,200 Métis and fur trade families with ancestors in Red River.

Available on microfilm, and may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Inventory available.

Also available:

Métis Script records

Gail Morin’s Métis Database

Genealogy of the First Métis Nation

Dictionary of Canadian Biography

Western Canadian 1600-1900

The Archives will do a basic search of their Métis resources for a fee paid in advance. For further information contact Glenbow by mail, telephone or email.